Mennonites Don't Dance [Paperback]

A Saskatchewan farm boy struggles to coexist with his moody father, who considers humanity a plague of locusts. A mother and pregnant daughter-in-law quibble over a pie but later unite in parenthood's greatest tragedy. A young girl moves to her grandparents' farm after her parents divorce and realizes that the future rests in her own hands. A daughter recounts her depressive mother's childhood while drowning in bitter grief.

The characters in "Mennonites Don't Dance" authentically and fully integrate with their settings; they define themselves by land and climate but also by familial expectations. Certainly, patriarchs rule these families but the author portrays mothers and children with equally arresting clarity.

Darcie Friesen Hossack prose is mesmerizing and ingeniously understated. She maintains strict narrative control while combining clean images with plot elements of both surprise and inevitability. As a result, the reader experiences authentic sentiment throughout this collection, which succeeds in maintaining structural depth, psychological intricacy and stunning emotional impact.

I sent Darcie the following fan letter. I was so surprised she responded to me the same day! Goes to show: Mennonites may not dance, but they are prompt!
Darcie:

Congratulations on "Mennonites Don't Dance"! As an avid reader of your (and Dean's!) Courier column, I eagerly awaited your book! Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend your launching at the Kelowna Library, but a few days later I was able to scoop a signed copy for myself and for each of my 4 sisters! They were great little gifts to take down to the Penner family Thanksgiving gathering at the coast.

Your stories were as wonderful to read as I expected. I did not have the "prairie experience my self; I was born after my parents had moved to that B.C. Mennonite mecca - Yarrow. (Daughter of Raspberry Penner, who was son of Postman Penner - you know what I mean.) Some of that old prairie ethic certainly did come along for the ride, though.

I had a good laugh at your reference to Peach Pie in "Ashes". That instinctive frugality hit me as I was making my contribution to the Penner Thanksgiving feast: Plum Platz. All my life I thought it was a "given" that it took exactly 14 plums to make a 9x12 Platz. Here I was, making 4 of those suckers, and STILL had pounds and pounds of those prolific fruits still on the counter. The thought of making MORE Plum Platz was crazy-making! Oh! Wow! What a thought! I could STAND THE PLUMS ON EDGE! I could fit 30 or 40 plums in each pan! Genius! (Big hit at the dinner party too!) We Mennonites (using the term loosely here) still have some built-in traits, that's for sure.

Anyway, thanks for the book. The stories were very thought-provoking. I am delighted to note that even non-Mennonites are "getting" it, and I am looking forward to more from you!

This is a collection of short stories of Canadian Mennonites written by a Mennonite, Darcie Friesen Hossack set primarily on the Canadian Prairies.

In one of the stories called Ashes, Anke has lost her husband Abraham and has no choice but to sell her house to her son Matthew who is newly married to Libby. Anke feels as though she's the unwelcome guest in the upstairs bedroom. She wonders if they appreciate her sacrifice.

Libby, the new daughter in-law has taken over and wants to make the house hers. Anke dislikes Libby instantly and feels that Libby is trying to change things.

It begins with Anke and Libby bickering over how many peaches go into one peach pie. Libby begins by heaping peaches in one pie crust and is soon corrected by Anke who can make six peach pies out of all those peaches. Anke begins by scooping out all the fruit in the one pie and dividing it into six pie crusts and now six pies go into the oven.

Libby is expecting her very first child and her mother in-law Anke wants the baby to be named Abraham after Anke's late husband, but Libby rejects naming her baby after a dead person.
Libby decides on the name Abel. Anke is getting angrier with each moment and says "so you won't use the name of my dead husband, but you would curse a child with the name of the first person murdered on this earth." Libby then asks her mother in-law "what if it's a girl?." Anke replies by saying she doesn't want any "new-age" names. Anke insists on a solid German European name like Ruth, after her late baby daughter.

Tragedy strikes and Anke and Libby have bridged the generation gap for now. They both have something in common and their lives have changed forever.

Throughout the stories, God is Supreme in the houses of the Mennonites. Whatever happens in life whether good or bad, it is the will of God and He is not to be questioned.

In the Mennonite home, the father rules while the mother tends to the children and to the home, yet still taking instructions from her husband.

They are always confronted by the conflict of Tradition and Change with the young Mennonites growing up.

Although the Mennonites' culture is different than any other culture, many of the problems that arise can happen in all homes.

This collection of stories is a GEM. Darcie Friesen Hossack's writing is so beautiful, honest and full of grace. Her Characters are vibrant and full of personality.

Mennonites Don't Dance would make a wonderful gift for any occasion but particularly as a stocking stuffer at Christmas. I enjoyed this book of stories and can highly recommend it.